The Rio de Janeiro Olympics kick off on August 5 for some two weeks of competitive games drawing athletes as well as audiences from around the world. As they prepare to cover the event, Reuters photographers look back on their favourite pictures from past Olympics where they captured the action on the ground as well as the participants' tears and joy that followed. (Photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)

Members of Team Italy are seen underwater as they perform in the synchronised swimming team free routine preliminary at the Aquatics World Championships in Kazan, Russia July 28, 2015. (Photo by Michael Dalder/Reuters)

A demonstrator catches fire during clashes with riot police within a protest against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas on May 3, 2017. Venezuela's angry opposition rallied Wednesday vowing huge street protests against President Nicolas Maduro's plan to rewrite the constitution and accusing him of dodging elections to cling to power despite deadly unrest. (Photo by Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP Photo)

A saddle-billed stork stands in the grassland at the Nairobi National Park near Nairobi, Kenya January 23, 2017. (Photo by Thomas Mukoya/Reuters)

Shara Magomedov, right, punches Armen Petrosyan during a middleweight mixed martial arts bout at UFC Fight Night on Saturday, October 26, 2024, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Altaf Qadri/AP Photo)

American model and media personality Kendall Jenner attends the Gucci women's Spring Summer 2024 collection presented in Milan, Italy, Friday, September 22, 2023. (Photo by Luca Bruno/AP Photo)

Devotees perform religious rituals by splashing holy water during the Madhav Narayan Festival, a month-long event dedicated to Lord Madhav Narayan, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu in Thacho, Lalitpur, Nepal on February 10, 2025. Devotees also carry butter lamps and blow conch shells (shankha) as part of the sacred observance. (Photo by Safal Prakash Shrestha/ZUMA Press Wire)

Belarusian villagers celebrate the Christmas carol rite (Kalyady) in the village of Danilevichy, some 320 km south of Minsk on January 7, 2020. Kalyady is an ancient pagan holiday originally celebrated on winter solstice. Dressed-up people walk from house to house singing, dancing, eating and drinking with their neighbours. (Photo by Sergei Gapon/AFP Photo)